welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories we are following for you. >> we're go doing do everything we can to try to protect the american people from this awful law. there was a new report out that says the white was warned months ago about problems with health care.gov. and a game changer for black friday and the holidays. it is coming from wal-mart.

we begin with the ongoing problems with the affordable care ariel castro. one of the largest supporters is back on the road saying it will work. kathleen sebelius is making two stops in florida today. and there was a report out this morning suggesting the white house knew seems this might be damage control on the part of the white house. >> yes, good morning. kathleen sebelius spoke to students about the status of healthcare.gov. and the secretary was asked what did the government know? what did the administration -- were they aware that there could be problems with an october # 1st

roll out. based on this report that indicated as early as last march that there may have been problems with logistics, and the number of people using the site. the secretary said they were aware of that report, saying the administration knew about theed a assessment and what issues could be in place. >> they gave a management assessment on what could go wrong, on what some of the issues were, and that was, as you say in march of last year, which was taken very seriously, and action plans were put in place to address those issues and problems. clearly all of them and particularly the timing for end to end testing was not sufficient. we have said that over and over again. and just to put it in perspective here in florida we

have 3.5 million residents who are uninsured who have eligible for this healthcare plan. so for the secretary to speak about and address this issue is critical here in florida. she'll be speaking in miami this afternoon and no doubt more to come on the report that was brought to light last march. >> julia, thank you very much. talks to end the long standoff over iran's nuclear program resume tomorrow in geneva. the meeting coming as some lawfuls push for tougher sanctions against iran. >> at this moment see senators from the foreign relationships, the armed services committee, the ill ten against committee in the west wing, reporters

awaiting their arrival speaking to reporters about what transpired. secretary of state john kerry set to return to geneva. two weeks ago he left empty handed and they are going to pick up that ball again. many senators are disappointed. they said this is not the time to try to ease sanctions. this is the time to strengthen sanctions. the administration say the existing sanctions would have brought iran to the table to begin with. and what is essentially happening now, the white house is trying to talk senators out of trying to impose tougher sanctions. here is jay carney. >> we believe there is the potential to initiate the first

phase of an agreement that would see iran halting progress on its program, and rolling back certain aspects of it, and as we -- and therefore basically falling progress on their program and rolling it back as we pursue a more comprehensive agreement and test whether or not a more comprehensive agreement is achievable. >> reporter: so the is the administration and its allies giving iran a chance to demonstrate that this is sin year, that they will not develop a military or nuclear weapon. president obama and administration officials have said time and time again if that were to come to pass, if the united states were to determine that iran was trying to develop a weapon, military action would be in order. >> so mike what is the end game? >> you heard jay carney just say this is the first step.

they call this temporary easing of sanctions. this carrot to get iran to the table. they say this is eminently reversible was the phrase that jay carney used yesterday, and if iran were to prove it is insincere and they were to drag their feet on inspections on making sure uranium is not being enriched to a weapon's grade quality, then they could go back and impose those sanctions yet again, and it's not just the people in the senate, benjamin netenyahu, the prime of israel have been very outspoken against this as have others. dell? >> mike, thank you very much. virginia state police are investing a deadly attack at the home of an influential state

senator, he was critically injured during the attack. another person was found dead. the richmond times dispatch reporting that person was deed's son. deed's unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2009. lebanese officials say 23 people were killed in suicide attacks out of the iranian embassy in beirut. and an al-qaeda-linked group says it is responsible. here is more from beirut. >> scenes of devastation. two powerful bombs were detonated outside of the iranian embassy in beirut early on tuesday. firefighters rushed to the scene to put out the flames and help the wounded. >> translator: i am syrian, i work opposite the iranian

embassy. on my way to work the first explosion shun took place, and minutes later the second took place. >> reporter: al-qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack. >> it is a message that says you are not hide, if you are going to be involved in syria, then we can also hit you in front of the iranian embassy in beirut or for that matter anywhere else. >> reporter: iran is a major back for of bashar al-assad. the attack appears to be the latest spillover from the syria war, and it isn't the first. those who carried out a previous attack said it was in retaliation for the participation in the syrian war.

for both the fight in syria is their fight. >> translator: this message is useless and our deployment there is not just strategic but also political. similarly iran's position cannot be changed by such bloody message. iranian hezbollah will remain allies to syria and will continue fighting in the region. >> reporter: lebanese people are already divided about syria's civil war. many people now warn of more attacks in the days and weeks to come as syria's war is now also being fought in lebanon. i don't know what i'm going to do. i'm just going to take it day by day. i'm so thankful i have my boys. >> people in the midwest recovering, digging out after that deadly string of tornados

that tore through the nation's heartland. in their weak a path of death and destruction. perhaps the hardest hit area, washington illinois. ang andy roesgen is there. andy how are residents coping? >> authorities have announced that they are giving people about five hours to get back into the area, get their personal property and then get out. and a facebook page has been established to try to reunite some of these folks with their personal effects and paperwork that in some cases have been scattered hundreds of miles away. from the air the damage is easy to see. on the ground a devastating sight for hundreds of residents. >> it's hard to believe.

it's almost like a -- can i wake up now? you know? it's almost like a nightmare? >> reporter: on monday stunned survivors of the heavy storms returned to hard-hit washington, illinois, to scrape up what they could, and figure out what is next. >> my neighborhood found my daughter's journal that she kept as a kid. so we'll be looking for bits and pieces today. >> reporter: the five-mile wide twister was one of dozens tornados reported in illinois, slamming into dozens of communities like this one where an elderly brother and sister were killed leaving relatives to cope not only with the loss of their home but with their loved ones. we was planning on a thanksgiving down here. amy bought the turkey, and we was going to fry a turkey down here. so we were all looking forward to that. >> reporter: brook port suffered

its share of loss as well. almost 50 homes are gone or leveled entirely. and in the poem to 35,000 another 38 homes completely uninhabitable. the storms which have left hundreds homeless and thousands still without power have sent shock waves throughout the heartland where many are not even allowed to return to their homes which are deemed unsafe. >> once i got back into town and pulled into the first neighborhood, i literally had no idea where i was at. >> reporter: the illinois governor has declared disaster areas in at least seven counties. >> it's important to begin the assessment of the damage for insurance company purposes, but definitely for any kind of application that we make to the federal government for federal disaster relief, we must make an

initial assessment. >> reporter: but until aid arrives an overnight curfew for those hardest hit. >> it's sad. we'll rebuild, by we got the biggest things. sorry. which -- which was my family, so . . . we'll take care of the rest. >> reporter: well disaster relief teams have shown up in a, parking lots near here doling out cleaning supplies. and illinois insurance have set up shop in another parking lot. dell, back to you. >> andy thank you very much. now to the philippines 12 days after typhoon haiyan hit, a lot of survivors say they still are not getting the supplies

they need. the world food program sayings roads are blocked and shortages of electricity and fuel are to blame for lack of supplies. hundreds are arriving each day on military planes, many saying they are now worried about what they are going to do for a living. forensic experts have examined think bodies of over 175 victims before they were buried in those mass graves. and badly needed aid is finally reaching survivors? the coastal town where the pacific meets the philippines. al jazeera paul beeben walks us through a makeshift medical

clinic. >> reporter: we're at the municipal building which was absolutely torn to shreds by the winds of typhoon haiyan. they are setting up a temporary medical clinic flown in on those two blackhawks, and they are distributed antibiotics and tetanus vaccine, as well as doing wound care and assessments for patients who may have more serious injuries or conditions that will require them to be evacuated. they are expecting to see hundreds of patients here today, the question is are they going to have enough supplies to care for the number of people injured here. now that the roads are open, it will be easier to set up a steady flow, but today the ur genth need was to get those vaccines out here as quickly as possible. up next we'll tell you about a game changer for black friday,

and it's coming from wal-mart, the people that brought you the smiley face. the gap between rich and poor... job creation... climate change... tax policy... the economy... iran... healthcare... ad guests on all sides of the debate. >> this is a right we should all have... >> it's just the way it is... >> there's something seriously wrong... >> there's been acrimony... >> the conservative ideal... >> it's an urgent need... and a host willing to ask the tough questions >> how do you explain it to yourself? and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5 eastern only on al jazeera america

the stream is uniquely interactive television. in fact, we depend on you, your ideas, your concerns. >> all these folks are making a whole lot of money. >> you are one of the voices of this show. >> i think you've offended everyone with that kathy. >> hold on, there's some room to offend people, i'm here. >> we have a right to know what's in our food and monsanto do not have the right to hide it from us. >> so join the conversation and make it your own. >> watch the stream.

>> and join the conversation online @ajamstream. taking a look at your top business headlines, we remain on that dow 16,000 watch. the blue chips crossing the market for the second straight day earlier, but the rally has fizzled a bit. we are just a pinch low right now. but if we're anywhere in the green at the closing bell, that would make five straight days of record highs and the first time ever above 16,000. the housing recovery getting a boost thanks to home depot's bottom line. it says it earned close to 1.5 billion dollars last quarter. the company also raising its full-year profit outlook. a different story from electronic's chain best buy. deep discounted reduced overall

revenue from one year ago, it also warned the company could make less money if it has to match other stores. and what could be a game changer from wal-mart. the world's largest retailer is going to begin black friday this friday. that is a full week before the traditional day after thanksgiving. it says it needs to start early because the holiday season is the shortest in years. for more we bring in kristin, who is in scottsdale, arizona right now. is wal-mart about to go down in history as the grench, i guess, that sold thanks giving? >> no, i think they are just one of the most desperate retailers out there. >> is there a fear in the case of wal-mart trying to boost its bottom line, could actually see some blow back when it comes to shoppers? >> that wal-mart shopper is very

opinionated but they are also very loyal. the people getting blow back are companies like macy's which has been a tremendously performing stock and the fact they are opening up on thanksgiving day has gotten a lot of blowback. so department stores getting a lot of negative activity, but yet, wal-mart is not. >> i have to ask the question, are we now going to start christmas shopping on halloween? >> oh, yeah, it's definitely christmaka. you are in the news business. you operate on a 24-hour news cycle. well, the consumers operate on a 24-hour shopping cycle.

>> we go back to the days when something in this country was sacred. it used to be you didn't shop on sunday. and then any meaning of the season being forgotten. does this pretty much wipe it off the board? >> pretty much. it depends on what these holidays mean to you, your household, your family, and your tradition. some folks their tradition is go out shopping on black friday, so i do believe it is what you make of it, but i think those holiday parameters are getting less and less important. black friday is now more like 50 shades of grey. >> kristin thank you very much. george zimmerman the neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot trayvon martin is back in court again today. police say he pointed a shotgun

at his girlfriend, pushed her out of the house and then barricaded himself inside. she then called 911. officers were able to push the door open and then arrest zimmerman without incident. he faces assault and battery charges. more trouble for the mayor of toronto. [ shouting ] >> that was just the beginning, cameras caught ford yawning and doing this. he also knocked over a council member as he rushed to his brother's aid on the sidelines. >> i apologize to anyone i accidentally hit -- >> i'm asking you to apologize

to counselor mcdonell. >> yes, absolutely. >> ford admitteds to smoking crack cocaine, buying narcotics, and driving drunk, but says he will not step down. up next we take a look at a historic speech 150 years later.

♪ at least 23 people were k l killed suicide attacked out of the iranian embassy in beirut. a group linked with al-qaeda is taking claim for the attacks. and dozens of neighborhoods leveled by tornados in illinois. as many as 75 ripping through the nation's heartland on sunday. virginia state police

investing a deadly attack at the home of a state senator. he is in the hospital in critical condition. state police also say another person was found dead. the richmond times dispatch reporting that that person was deed's son. 150 years ago today, president abraham lincoln delivered his gettiesberg address. tom akerman reports. >> reporter: 1.5 centuries after america's civil war general robert e lee still stands tall in richmond. he was declared a traitor and stripped of his u.s. citizenship for the rest of his life. the battle flags that still wave

across the south, more reminders that this region has not wiped away the spirit of that time. >> you still feel that rebel pride in the crowd, yeah, that's still there. there is still a lot of that southern pride in a lot of people in the south. >> reporter: president lincoln proclaimed that the blood shred there would bring forth a new birth of freedom, ending slavery in america. this private cemetery in richmond is the final resting place for most of the 12,000 confederate soldiers who died in that battle. nearby at the american civil war center, visitors are presented with three alternate perspectives of what caused the war. including white southern's will

to save their slaved based economy. >> it's all interwoven together. >> reporter: the south still has its diehards who insist that ending slavery was not the real cause of the war. it's an imperial power that will go around the world to have its ideas enforced at the point of a bloody bayonet. >> reporter: but seven generation later, it's people have vowed never to repeat. tom akerman, richmond, virginia. i'm meteorologist dave warren. not much happening here in areas that were hard hit by severe weather. it is cold though, but things are pretty calm. it is down to 37 in chicago,

minneapolis at 38, but the warm air is starting to creep back. by this weekend an arctic blast is what we will be talking about. winter weather advisory here along with a high-wind warning. you can see that plus the clouds. this will continue to increase throughout the afternoon and evening. outlook, friday, there is the storm, and this will bring down cold arctic air on saturday and sunday, in this area, you'll notice a big drop in temperature. the wind will gust between 30 and 40 miles an hour as the storm intensifies. the timing of the front depends on where you live. dell? >> dave warren thank you very much. and thank you for watching al

jazeera america. i'm del walters. "the stream" is next. and the dow back above 16,000 again. ♪ >> hi, i'm lisa flesher and you're in the stream. pakistan and the u.s., friends, enemies orr friend mys. we take an independent look at this complicated relationship. our digital producer bringing in all your live feedback of which we have tons today. >> all angles. international tweets. and pakistanis can agree they agree on knock.